


call my name the way you used to

by fio



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bathtub Sex, Facial Shaving, Grooming, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Reunion Sex, Shower Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 15:02:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11739492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fio/pseuds/fio
Summary: Keith gives Shiro a bath and a shave and tries to find some comfort.SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3, specifically episode 5





	call my name the way you used to

**Author's Note:**

> I know there's a clone theory that's popular but I'm more partial to the brainwashed sleeper agent theory, but this is ambiguous enough to fit into either. Thanks s3 for even more Keith Loves Shiro Most In The Universe content.

Keith doesn't wait for the Black Lion to finish pulling the Galra cruiser in before he's out of the pilot seat, rushing out the back of the cockpit to meet Shiro. The voices of the other paladins sound through the comms, shouting over each other, asking if it's really him, if he's okay, where has he been, but Keith can't speak, can't think, can only jettison out across the space between him and Shiro to close it. He lands on the Galra ship and watches as the cockpit slowly opens, reaching in as soon as he's able to grab Shiro—it's him, he's alive, he's here, it's _him_ —and pull him out.

"...Keith..."

"I've got you," Keith says, fighting back tears. He jets them back to Black and as soon as it swallows them both, he tears his helmet off, needing to breathe. His hands shake over Shiro's helmet but Shiro closes his eyes and lets him pull it off, slow and careful.

He's disheveled, gaunt and exhausted. He's the most wonderful thing Keith has ever seen.

"I've got you," he says again, gasping it, wrapping his arms around Shiro and pulling him close, but not too tight. Shiro chuckles against his neck and Keith's eyes burn as the tears start to fall freely now. "Shiro, I never gave up," he whispers. His voice shakes and he knows Shiro can tell he's crying, but it doesn't matter. It never does with Shiro.

"... I knew you wouldn't," Shiro says.

His eyes flutter closed and Keith panics, his fingers tightening on Shiro as he pulls back to watch and make sure his chest is moving. When he's satisfied that Shiro is still breathing and just sleeping, Keith lies him down in the cockpit and takes them back to the Castle, looking over his shoulder at Shiro the whole time.

***

"Hey, Keith?"

"Yeah."

"How many times are you gonna have to save me before this is over?"

Keith smiles, the answer coming to him so easily Shiro may as well have asked if the sky is blue. "As many times as it takes."

Shiro smiles back, then slumps forward. Keith had been leaving for the bridge, but he turns right around and moves to Shiro's side, his hands reaching out for him instinctively.

"You okay?"

"Mmhm. I was thinking... Did they see me like this? When I was passed out and you brought me back?"

"For maybe a minute, I guess. You kind of..." Keith hesitates, feeling his face burn a little. Shiro blinks up at him from behind long bangs. The words come out in a rush as he quietly admits, "wouldn't let anyone else touch you and kept calling my name, so I just brought you back here. And you haven't let anyone else come in, so... no, they didn't see you much."

Shiro looks a bit surprised, then laughs. "I was just thinking, you've seen me worse than this, but for the others it'd probably be better if I'm a bit less..." He trails off and lifts a hand to gesture at his unruly hair and unshaven scruff. "Can you help me?"

"Yeah, of course," Keith says, "Do you want me to ask Coran to get the decontamination room ready again?"

"No, uh. That's a little too intense for me," Shiro mutters. Keith looks him over, how pale and tired he still is, and nods. "I was thinking just... a bath."

"Okay." Keith's hands start to sweat.

"And you could join?"

Keith swallows, his heart pounding in his chest, and nods, his throat squeezing too tight for him to answer aloud.

The paladins' rooms in the Castle of Lions all come with very nice bathrooms that include fairly decently sized bathtubs, though all of them generally stick with showers because it's easier to hop out of one of those for any emergency Voltron-related business. Shiro's leg injury doesn't seem to be bothering him too much so Keith doesn't have to help him walk across his room, but it's still obvious how drained and weak he is as he moves. Keith gets the bath running and helps Shiro start to undress, trying to keep his hands from shaking.

"Hey," Shiro says when Keith starts to fumble with Shiro's belt. Big, hot hands wrap around Keith's and squeeze and Keith inhales so sharply he nearly chokes on it. "You don't have to stay if you don't want."

"No," Keith replies, shaking his head, "the last thing I ever want to do is leave you."

For a moment, they stand still, Keith's hands in Shiro's and their eyes locked on each other's. Then Keith's eyes dip because he can't help it, drawn to Shiro's lips like a moth to fire. But where Shiro has always been patient and receptive while not assertive before, this time once he catches Keith's gaze dropping down, he follows it, leaning in and closing the distance with a kiss. The scruff on his face scratches at Keith's skin and Shiro's hair falls over their eyes, but Keith relishes in the feeling of it. The feeling of Shiro here, alive, _with him_. He presses up on his toes, wanting to kiss him harder, opening his lips and pressing his tongue gently against Shiro's, and moans when Shiro opens up for him in return.

Their hands let go and immediately start to pull at Keith's clothing, first his jacket and then his shirt which forces their lips apart. Keith can already feel his lips starting to burn from the rub of Shiro's beard, and he licks around his mouth at the sensation as Shiro watches, pupils growing fat.

Before Shiro can kiss him again, something hot washes over his feet and he looks down to see the bath water beginning to overflow. He stumbles over to the tub and turns off the water, shrugging bashfully back at Shiro.

"We should probably get in."

Shiro stares at him for a few moments longer before he shakes himself out of it and says, "Yeah, you're right."

Keith is a bit slow to pull off his belt and his pants, but Shiro strips out of his underwear and steps into the tub quickly, but not quick enough that Keith can't see the erection he's starting to sport. Warmth floods Keith's belly and his skin begins to tingle with pins and needles as he finally drops his slacks and kicks out of his underwear. Before he steps into the bath, he pauses to unholster his knife—he still hasn't adjusted to thinking of it as a Marmora blade, and when he doesn't activate it, it's easy to forget what it can do—and carries it into the tub with him.

He's not sure where to sit at first, standing awkwardly naked with a knife in his hand, and settles for the opposite end of the wide tub when Shiro makes no move, curling his knees up to his chest. Water spills over the side with both of them inside it now but it seems to disappear almost as soon as it splashes out onto the floor, the castle absorbing it with whatever fancy Altean programming it has.

"What's that for?" Shiro asks, eying the knife almost warily.

"I thought, for your hair, and your face... We don't have razors, so."

There's a moment more of hesitation before Shiro tilts his head and holds out his Galra hand. "Good idea." 

Keith takes it and lets Shiro pull him across the tub and into his lap, splashing more water out onto the floor, though neither take notice. Keith can't keep his eyes off of Shiro, his hand gently pushing the wet hair out of his face. He puts the knife on the edge of the tub where the shampoos and soaps are and cups Shiro's face with both hands, letting his thumbs rub over the scruffy hair covering it now. Shiro's fingers settle over Keith's waist, but he doesn't try to pull Keith any further into his lap even though Keith can feel his dick bumping against his leg. 

Shiro lets Keith just touch him for a long time, fingers stroking and legs rubbing together beneath the water, as if it helps him confirm that he's real and alive, too.

"You..." Keith says suddenly, but doesn't continue.

"Hm?" Shiro hums, leaning his cheek against Keith's palm.

_You weren't gone this long,_ he thinks, looking at how long Shiro's hair is, but he doesn't want to say it. They've dealt with wormholes gone wrong before and Shiro doesn't remember where the Black Lion sent him, so maybe for the rest of them not much time had passed but for Shiro it did. It's hardly unbelievable after everything else they've witnessed and gone through. But while it may not have been as long as that year back on Earth without Shiro, alone and abandoned and empty in that desert, it still felt like it for Keith.

The echo of that ache pulses in his chest and he finally leans down and kisses Shiro again.

"Keith," Shiro moans against his lips, and suddenly his hands _do_ pull at Keith's waist, tugging his ass down into Shiro's lap. Keith gasps, his cock already stirring as Shiro's human, calloused fingers slip between his cheeks, slide over his hole to make him shudder. His knees press into the tub on either side of Shiro's hips and his hands settle over Shiro's shoulders to hold himself up as Shiro begins to finger him. Normally Shiro would slow down and grab the lube, but Keith is fine skipping that part of the process, longing and relief filling him up in equal measure that he wants to replace with Shiro, inside him and around him as close as he can keep him.

"Shiro, please," Keith begs, riding down on Shiro's hand now and making the water slosh over the sides again even though the bath's water level is already much lower than when they'd stepped in. 

"Let me in," Shiro whispers, pulling his fingers away and rubbing Keith's ass down against his cock. 

Keith whines and rolls his hips, muttering, "Fill me, fill me up, I need it," until he finally feels Shiro press up inside him. His muscles pull taut and his jaw drops open, a soundless groan until he's fully seated in Shiro's lap and the noise rushes out of him in one loud shout. 

The frenzied need to be filled now satisfied, Keith's whole body relaxes as he catches his breath and Shiro kisses up and down his neck and across his shoulders. He loves the feel of Shiro's new beard and the thought of what marks he could leave with it, but he knows Shiro wants to look cleaner by the end of this bath so he'll have to shave it off. But before they do that, Keith reaches for the shampoos, lathering up his hands and running them across Shiro's scalp. 

"Mm?" Shiro tones when he feels Keith start to wash his hair, though he doesn't stop sucking at the skin on Keith's shoulder. 

"Clean hair is easier to cut," Keith explains. He also just wants to touch Shiro, to help him clear away all the dirt and blood as if they carry the weight of his pain and he could make it feel a bit lighter. Shiro gives a lazy roll of his hips as Keith's hands massage through his hair and Keith's breath stutters, but he keeps going. "Don't do that when I'm holding the knife," Keith warns teasingly, and Shiro bites at him lightly in response. 

Keith takes his time and makes sure to keep his touch gentle, pulling fingers through knots and careful not to scrape Shiro's head with his nails. Every once in awhile Keith rolls down against Shiro or Shiro bucks up into him, but neither of them try to pick up the pace, content to just be close and connected, Keith's half-hard erection bouncing between their bellies but not desperate to be touched. 

"Gonna rinse now," Keith says when he's confident he's shampooed every inch of Shiro's hair and scalp. Shiro keeps his mouth on Keith's neck and hums against his skin. Keith cups his hands in the water, washing off the foamy soap before lifting them back out and slowly letting the water spill out over Shiro's head. The water feels lukewarm now after how long they've taken so he doesn't worry about the hot temperature hurting Shiro's skin as it trickles down over his face. 

He has no idea if it's helping but Shiro doesn't complain and lets Keith wash and smooth the suds out of his hair until it's completely clean, the bathwater now foggy with soap. Keith grabs the scrub brush by the shampoos next, and this time when he pushes at Shiro to let go of his neck, Shiro practically _growls_ at him. It makes Keith cock jump and his insides shiver, turning Shiro's expression from annoyance to surprise at Keith squeezes around him. 

"I was gonna—" Keith gasps, his hands scrambling for the edge of the tub when Shiro fucks up into him hard. "Wash your face," he finishes, but Shiro just thrusts up again, his hands on Keith's waist tightening and holding him in place. 

Their languid, quiet peace at being close is suddenly not enough. The brush slips from Keith's hand into the water that's now splashing everywhere as he tries to keep his hold on the tub, but it's wet and hard to grasp so he brings them to Shiro's shoulders, trying not to grip too hard. 

"Keith," Shiro grunts, his eyes squeezing closed as he moves. 

He's desperate and rushed, and while Keith can't blame him, it's so different from what he's used to. Shiro so rarely lets himself take a rest and indulge in what Keith always has and always will offer him, and when he does indulge it's always cautious, as if he's not sure he's allowed to. But now he fucks Keith with greed and hunger, and Keith answers with the same. He winds the fingers of one of his hands up into Shiro's wet hair, pressing his cheek to Shiro's as he breathes harder the faster Shiro fucks him. 

He wants to move, to match the rhythm, but Shiro keeps his grip firm and holds Keith in place. His dick is aching to be touched where it bounces against his belly beneath the water, so he drops a hand from Shiro's shoulder to grab it, trying to keep pace with Shiro's hard thrusts inside him, but the water dulls his touch and he can't move fast enough. The pressure building in his balls is still unsatisfied and the ache to come grows even stronger, his body starting to shiver. 

"Shiro, please" he begs, fingers tightening in Shiro's hair. He's not sure what he's begging for Shiro to do—all he wants is to come—but Shiro answers by stopping, and Keith whines at him until he's suddenly lifted out of the water, Shiro's hands now on his ass. He accidentally pulls at Shiro's hair in surprise, but Shiro only grunts a moment before he's pressing Keith up against the wall beside the tub and fucking him again, faster now with no water impeding the way. 

"Shiro— Shiro!" Keith cries, his voice loud enough to echo against the walls and too far gone to care. Shiro kisses and sucks at his neck, whispering Keith's name against his skin in return. 

It's Shiro's voice that makes Keith's hand around his dick squeezes once, twice, and then he's coming, shouting and his legs spasming where they hang desperately around Shiro's thighs. Every thrust and press of his back against the wall makes him moan, overloaded and sensitive as his body shudders and pulses with orgasm, until Shiro bites onto his shoulder and gives one last powerful, desperate thrust as he comes, too. 

They breathe together pressed against the wall, Keith's come and the bath water dripping down their legs. Keith's fingers comb through Shiro's damp hair in lazy, slow motions, just wanting to feel it. Shiro's thighs begin to shake after a while of holding them both up and he gently lets Keith down before they both slide down into the bath, Keith's hand reluctantly slipping loose of Shiro's hair. 

Shiro leans his head against the edge of the tub as he looks at Keith and catches his breath. Keith's eyes focus on his chest, rising and falling. As if he still needs proof that Shiro is alive, real and here. When Keith glances up at his face, Shiro gives him a sheepish smile. 

"Sorry," he says. 

Keith frowns, confused. "For what?" 

Shiro reaches a finger out of the water and points at Keith's neck. 

Keith tries to look down at himself and raises a hand to try and feel for what Shiro's talking about, but he can't see whatever marks Shiro has left. The skin is warm and swollen though, and he can feel a growing soreness there, both from the rub of Shiro's facial hair and the marks left by his mouth. 

"It's fine," Keith says, wishing he wouldn't apologize. Wishing he'd mark Keith more, where he could see it and always remember. 

His fingers drag over his skin for a few moments before he drops his hand back into the water. He looks down at it, soapy from the shampoo and slightly discolored from the grime washed off of Shiro and now their come and sweat joining the mix. 

"We should switch to a shower, rinse off before we cut your hair." 

"Good idea." 

Keith drains the tub and offers Shiro a hand, pulling him onto his feet. He presses the button for the shower to begin and bends down to grab the bath brush he'd dropped before, but Shiro's hands suddenly grab his thighs and he jolts upright, looking behind him just in time to see Shiro on his knees and spreading out his cheeks with his thumbs. 

"W-Wait—" he starts, but the press of Shiro's tongue inside his hole, loose and still wet with come he hasn't cleaned out, makes him shout and nearly slip underneath the spray of the shower. His hands find the wall to keep from falling while Shiro holds his legs steady as he tries to protest, "S-Shiro, not yet—" because he wants to keep as much of Shiro inside as long as he can. But then he feels a finger push inside him as Shiro's tongue pulls away and all of his energy goes towards not collapsing from overwhelming sensation. 

This is the one thing Shiro has always loved to do, cleaning Keith inside and out after they fuck. Keith has never asked about it since getting Shiro back from the Galra the first time, but he thinks he knows why Shiro keeps insisting on doing it even when Keith wishes he could take care of more things in Shiro's place. It's his way of ensuring any traces of the Galra aren't left on what he touches, which is particularly silly now that they know Keith's lineage. But Keith lets him keep doing it, hoping it comforts him. 

But this time it's different. Even as he cleans Keith of his come, Shiro teases with his tongue and pinches at Keith's ass and soon Keith's cock is hard again. It's not about protecting and cleansing Keith of anything and instead becomes indulgence, hungry and wanting—feelings Keith is painfully familiar with, but always holding back. Because there's always been something else. Some mission, be it Kerberos or Voltron, that came first for Shiro which meant it came first for Keith, too. 

He presses his forehead against the tile and brings a hand to his erection, breathing hard as he starts to stroke it. 

"Shiro," he breathes, getting a bite on his ass in response that makes him moan. The pad of Shiro's finger presses up hard against his insides, rubbing around his prostate and making his legs wobble. He doesn't last much longer before he comes all over the bathroom wall and stumbles backwards, Shiro catching him and kissing up his back as he slowly slides Keith down until he's sitting between Shiro's legs, the shower pouring down on both of them. 

As he tries to keep his eyes open, Shiro lifts him and hefts him out of the tub. 

"Wait..." Keith mumbles, fighting against the blissed out exhaustion pulling him towards sleep. When Shiro steps out of the bathroom with him, fear that Shiro is trying to take him back to his room jolts him back to alertness. "Wait!" he says, gripping at Shiro's biceps. 

"I don't care if you get the bed wet," Shiro says with a soft laugh, which just makes Keith confused. But then he's deposited on Shiro's bed and he realizes neither of them have toweled off, they're both still very naked, and Shiro is hard again, so he never had any plans to walk Keith all the way back to his room in the first place. 

The sheets start to grow damp as he sits on them but he doesn't let go of Shiro's arms. Shiro watches him as his long, wet mop of hair drips all over himself and the floor, but instead of leaving Keith to get towels, after a short stretch of silence he pushes Keith slowly down onto the bed and climbs onto it with him. 

"Sorry," he mutters, kissing down Keith's neck where it's already sore from his attention, "One more time." 

But Keith wraps his arms around Shiro's shoulders and pulls him down onto his chest, his tired, wobbly legs squeezing at Shiro's waist as tight as they can. 

"More," he says, pressing a kiss into Shiro's hair. "As many times as you want." 

Shiro's face lifts away from Keith's shoulder, water dripping onto Keith's skin as Shiro stares down into his eyes. Keith brings a hand slowly to Shiro's hair and combs it gently, pulling it out of his face and trying to hook it behind his ear while Shiro looks at him. Eventually he stops and just watches Shiro back until Shiro finally drops down and kisses him, his fingers curling and cupping the back of Shiro's head, not wanting to let him pull away again. 

Keeping their lips locked together, Shiro hefts Keith along the bed and pushes back inside of him with ease, swallowing the pleased gasp Keith makes against his tongue. They fuck slowly and kiss until Keith's lips feel numb, and even longer after that. 

*** 

Sometime around the seventh time they come together, Keith passes out. When he wakes, Shiro isn't beside him in bed and his whole body lurches off of it with desperation to find him, but he's off balance, as if the universe has shifted the ground underneath him with Shiro's absence _again_ , and he falls to his knees with a grunt. 

His body feels sore all over, with an unfamiliar burning around his lips, his neck and his thighs, all the places Shiro paid close attention with his mouth. It helps him stand, relieved that he can feel the proof that Shiro's here with him again, just as Shiro reaches the doorway of the bathroom. 

"You okay?" Shiro asks, reaching forward but not quite touching Keith. 

"Yeah, just stood up too fast," Keith says, which isn't quite a lie. He blinks, realizing the long shaggy mane is gone. "You cut your hair." 

Shiro shrugs, glancing away as he brings a hand up to rub at the short, cropped cut. "I tried. I think I cut off a little too much at the top. Probably should've waited for you but I didn't want to wake you." 

"It looks good." Shiro looks back at him, searching Keith's face for something. "You look good." 

Shiro laughs bashfully and drops his hands for a moment before holding Keith's knife back out to him. "Thanks for this." 

Keith nods and takes it. 

"You didn't use it for the beard?" 

"Oh," Shiro says, touching his face as if just now remembering. He looks at Keith a moment and says, "Can you?" 

Keith's fingers tighten around the hilt of his knife, but he nods. Shiro walks past him towards the bed and sits down on the edge, opening his knees for Keith to stand between them. Keith peeks into the bathroom first, grabbing some soap and a towel, then returns to step between Shiro's legs. 

He's slow and gentle as he spreads the lathered soap across Shiro's skin and Shiro closes his eyes, relaxing into Keith's touch. 

In that moment, Keith feels a pit of dread open up in his gut that he'd been trying to ignore. His hand stills on Shiro's face, then pulls away to reach for the towel and wipe away the soap before picking up his knife from the bed. He hesitates a moment, waiting for Shiro to open his eyes again or his hand to reach up and catch him, but Shiro is motionless and calm in a way he hasn't been outside of sleep since Keith has gotten him back. 

The easy, relaxed way he sits makes him look like a ghost from a place and time left behind a long time ago. Keith's fingers squeeze around the hilt of his knife and he considers what he would do if Shiro has come back to him altered, different in a more terrifying way than before when he'd been found a survivor of torture Keith couldn't imagine. 

He stares at Shiro's face until Shiro clears his throat and squeezes one eye open. "Keith?" 

"Yeah," Keith says, the air in his lungs pushing out all at once in a harsh breath. "You sure you trust me not to mess up?" 

"Of course," Shiro says, smiling beneath the foam. 

Keith brings one hand to Shiro's chin and the blade to his cheek. He very carefully begins to pull it against Shiro's skin, leaving his face clean and smooth with every slow drag. 

He thinks again about what he would do if Shiro has been changed after more time trapped by the Galra and decides quietly as he shaves Shiro's face that he won't tell anyone about his doubts, because they don't matter. 

_How many times are you gonna have to save me before this is over?_ Shiro's question rings through his mind. 

_As many times as it takes,_ Keith had answered. And he'll keep that promise. 

No matter who or what it means Keith will have to save Shiro from. 


End file.
